Abstract
Breast cancer in pregnancy is an uncommon situation but poses dilemmas for patients
and their physicians. There is a paucity of prospective studies regarding diagnosis
and treatment of breast cancer during pregnancy. Women diagnosed with breast cancer
during pregnancy have similar disease characteristics to age-matched controls. Current
evidence suggests that diagnosis may be carried out with limitations regarding staging.
Surgical treatment may be performed as for non-pregnant women. Radiotherapy and endocrine
or antibody treatment should be postponed until after delivery. Chemotherapy is allowed
after the first trimester. Physicians should be aggressive in the workup of breast
symptoms in the pregnant population to expedite diagnosis and allow multidisciplinary
treatment without delay.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: July 22, 2009
Accepted:
June 30,
2009
Received in revised form:
May 28,
2009
Received:
March 19,
2009
Identification
Copyright
© 2009 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
